Faraway

The morning sun sat perched above a small town on the outskirts of Japan, baking the already parched earth below while sending waves of heat towards anyone who dared step outside their air-conditioned home.

Whoever was brave enough to endure the heat and venture outside, would most likely be found crawling along the hot road with their clothes sticking to their bodies while they dripped with sweat.

However, there was one couple who were simply enjoying each others' company on this scorching morning.

The man laughed as he held up the video camera, pointing it at his wife while she hid her face in her pillow.

"Come on, Amu! You know I'm going to eventually get you on camera" Ikuto laughed, crawling onto the bed towards her while continuing to hold up the camera, still aiming it at his wife.

"Ikutoooo! It's so early in the morning, I look like crap!" was Amu's muffled response.

Ikuto chuckled, "You could never look like crap". He could hear Amu scoff into the pillow as a response, yet he knew she was blushing. "Alright, I turned it off" Ikuto lied with a sigh, knowing she would fall into his trap.

Amu removed her face from the pillow, looking straight into the camera.

"IKUTO!"

The blue-haired man laughed as he ran out of the room, being hunted by his pissed off wife. "You delete that, right now!" she boomed, stomping through the house, searching for her husband and the video camera.

After searching the house thoroughly, Amu raked a hand through her hair, sighing deeply as she sunk onto the bed, lying back down.

"Did you miss me?" Ikuto teased, popping out of nowhere.

Amu just remained silent, eyes closed as she yawned.

"…Amu".

Still no response.

Ikuto hovered over his wife, eyebrows slanted downwards as he watched her closely. He knew for a fact that there was no way she had fallen asleep that quickly.

"Amuuu".

With one swift move, Amu's hand lunged towards the camera in Ikuto's grasp, snatching it away as she jumped off the bed, smiling victoriously. "Whoa, baby! I got it!" she announced proudly.

Ikuto had to smirk at the sight of Amu twirling around, her short nightdress barely covering her bottom as she lifted her arms in the air.

Ikuto slowly got off of the bed while Amu was too preoccupied with her cheering, and quickly picked her up, falling onto the bed with her. "Hey!" she giggled, hitting his chest.

Ikuto rubbed the spot she hit, pouting, "That hurt".

Amu just rolled her eyes before kissing him quickly to make up for it. "There" she stated with a grin.

"You think that'll make me feel better?" Ikuto asked, flipping Amu onto her back as he crawled on top of her, claiming her lips. Amu deepened the kiss as she ran her fingers along Ikuto's bare chest as he held her in his arms like a prized possession.

With no warning, the cell-phone sitting on the nightstand beside the bed suddenly started ringing loudly, a certain ring tone both Ikuto and Amu dreaded to hear.

They stopped immediately, slowly parting as they looked over at the phone.

Amu exhaled loudly as she slid out of Ikuto's grasp, sitting on the edge of the bed as her husband answered his phone, preparing himself for what lay ahead.

The house was dead silent, as if every piece of furniture was listening in on the phone conversation.

"…I understand" Ikuto said quietly, pausing for a moment to hear what the person on the other line was saying. Amu stared down at the floor as she heard Ikuto turn off the phone, sighing deeply.

He looked over at her, knowing she didn't want him to go just as much as he did. "Duty calls" he spoke softly, reluctantly walking over to the closet, where he slipped on a shirt and pulled out a heavy duffel bag, setting it on the bed.

He quickly grabbed his fireman jacket from out of the closet, placing it on top of his bag. Amu looked over at him as she bit down on her lip, trying to hide her depression.

Ikuto sighed, kissing her softly. "I'll be back as soon as I can" he promised. The pinkette nodded, doing her best to smile reassuringly as she watched Ikuto throw on his special fireman jacket and grab his bag before hurrying out of the house.

It was always like this.

At random, Ikuto would receive a certain phone call from the fire chief, telling him that there were deadly fires to put out. Amu hated the fact that her husband was a firefighter. Sure, she loved how he was brave enough to belong to such a job. But she didn't want to have to worry about his life every time he walked out that door.

Amu slowly crawled back onto the bed, gingerly picking up the TV remote and clicking the power button. Of course, just like she expected, there was breaking news that warned everyone about deadly, out-of-control, rapidly spreading fires that were taking over one of the nearby forests.

Ikuto jumped out of the truck, hurrying to the chief to ask where to start first.

The burning forest just feet away from him spat out flakes of burning wood with a mixture of leaves. The fire made the hot summer day even more dreadful.

Ikuto finished putting on his uniform as he ran towards his fellow firefighters, helping them turn on the hose and aim it at the forest.

Numerous things were going wrong. The fire was spreading faster than the firefighters could put it out, some of the hoses wouldn't reach the designated places, and the heat was too unbearable.

Ikuto stepped further into the burning trees, having a tight hold on the large hose in his arms while smothering the fires with water.

The thick smoke lingering around him burned his eyes as he disappeared further into the fire with a few colleagues.

A large explosion burst through the trees not too far from Ikuto, making the firefighters behind him even more nervous to go in any further. The blue-haired man shouted more orders at the amateurs, telling them to toughen up, and that it'll be over before they knew it.

Besides, Ikuto knew that his job was for the purpose of helping others. Even if it meant risking his own life. He figured that if he died at this point in his lifetime, he'd at least be happy.

He had the most beautiful wife who couldn't be anymore perfect. Just having her in his life was good enough for him.

The smoke around Ikuto finally managed to make his watery eyes burn, forcing him to shut them tightly. Once opening his eyes once more, he could barely see through his blurry vision, but managed to see another firefighter, lying on the ground.

Ikuto hurried over to him, turning the man on his back to see if he was still conscious. His eyes were just barely open, clearly not strong enough to even walk.

Ikuto threw the man onto his shoulder, staggering to walk straight as his vision blurred even more. The forest was almost completely burnt to a crisp, the flames continuing to spread as the fireman worked harder.

Ikuto emerged from the trees, placing the man on the ground as gently as possible.

Just as he located the helicopter they should've been climbing into to get to the hospital, Ikuto saw it flying away from the forest. He tried his best to yell for it to come back, but his voice was too hoarse to be heard.

Sighing deeply, Ikuto rested on the chard grass, rubbing his eyes to help the sight return back to them.

The next thing that happened made Ikuto's blood turn cold.

A loud cracking could be heard from right behind him. Once turning around, he came face-to-face with a tall tree, that was falling right where he was located.

Amu yawned widely as she walked out of the washroom, pulling her pyjamas on.

Ikuto had been gone the entire day.

She could only hope he'd be back home soon.

She took a seat back down on her bed, turning her attention to the TV as she sniffled. The fires had ceased for now. Amu breathed a sigh of relief once the reporter announced that.

Ikuto would be safe then.

She knew she had felt relief too soon once she heard her phone ring.

Swallowing thickly, she stood up off the bed, and picked up the phone, slowly bringing it up to her ear. The person she never wanted to hear, was on the other line.

The chief.

He was always the one to tell the firefighters' wife bad news.

"Tsukiyomi-san… I'm…" Amu could feel a lump in her throat growing with every passing second. Ikuto was a great firefighter. Everyone knew that. Even the chief. So if the chief was having a hard time trying to say something, then it must be extremely bad news.

"I'm so sorry, Amu. Ikuto… he…".

Amu could barely make out what the chief was saying as she covered her mouth, hoping to silence her sobs, but failed miserably. Her knees gave way from under her, making her drop to the floor as she turned off her phone, tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks.

He was gone, away from her forever. Never to hold her when she was having a terrible day at work, never to tease her just to see her blush… never to be there.

The only thing audible in the house was the sound of Amu sobbing. No one could've possibly heard a more depressing noise. A broken heart was created, broken dreams, broken everything.

"Ikuto!" Amu cried, burying her face in her nearby pillow. She found it hard to believe that this was the same pillow she was hiding her face in, just this morning, in order to escape from being in a video Ikuto was recording for memories.

"Ikuto, y-you idiot" Amu whispered quietly through her tears as her eyelids became heavy.

In just a few hours. The chief said that in a few hours the team would come bring the body to her.

Amu forced herself to stop thinking about it, and eventually cried herself to sleep as she lay alone in her bed.

It was raining. 'Figures' Amu thought as she stared lifelessly out the dark window. Of course it decided to rain now. Right after a terrible fire had spread through the main forest.

The pinkette removed yet another tissue from the nearly empty box beside her, wiping her eyes once more. She was thankful that she had at least gotten to have a small nap before the men came, that way she wouldn't be in complete hysterics.

The sudden stream of car lights suddenly flashed passed the window, letting Amu know that the firefighters were here.

She slowly stepped out into the rainy night, crying once more as she prepared herself for what lay ahead.

Every man and woman that climbed out of the van and stood with their heads bent, Amu recognized. They had all come to pay their respects. Amu had to hold onto the side of the house to maintain standing as she cried harder.

But the last person who jumped out of the van, was still wearing their fireman hat, and their head was bent so low, Amu couldn't even recognize the person.

But, the person removed his hat as he stopped a few feet away from Amu.

"I-Ikuto!" she cried, running as fast as she could towards him. He had a bandage on his cheek and had dirt here and there, but he was very much alive.

Amu jumped up to him, wrapping her legs around his waist as he supported her with his arms, holding her securely as they shared a kiss in the rain.

The chief and Kukai- another firefighter- then had their own little conversation as the couple continued to kiss.

"Man… she didn't even get to hear me say that he was just going to the hospital for a little bit to get bandages" the chief, Nikaidou muttered to Kukai, who just laughed.

"Well, everyone knows that you deliver bad news, so of course she hung up before you could tell her that her husband had died or something along those lines" Kukai commented. "Plus, you did say that you'd bring him over later tonight".

"I meant that I'd bring him over 'cause he didn't have a ride! She just assumed that I meant I was bringing the body" Nikaidou defended, looking back at the couple.

Kukai also looked back at them, smiling to himself. "Well, then she just got a very pleasant surprise".

Amu wrapped her arms around Ikuto tightly, hugging him as if he'd disappear once she let go. "I told you that I'd be back" Ikuto murmured into Amu's hair before kissing her head.

Amu smiled, despite the tears that were still overflowing from her golden eyes.

"Don't you leave me ever again" she sobbed before kissing him once more.

Keep breathing, 'cause I'm not leaving you anymore. Believe it, hold onto me, and never let me go.

~*~Inspired by the music video for Faraway, by Nickelback~*~

Go watch it!